Carlo Ancelotti managed Juventus for a couple of seasons in the late '90s and early 2000s, but it wasn't a case of happy returns as his Real Madrid team slipped to a 2-1 defeat in Turin tonight in the Champions League semi-final first leg.
Off The Ball's European football correspondent Graham Hunter highlighted a lack of control evident in their recent La Liga games, and feels some of that stems from midfield.
"Part of it is they lack nous in central midfield - that ability, either to up the pace or slow the pace - to make sure that the ball is controlled and draw players out of position. That is a key thing. Real Madrid in midfield aren't doing that," said Graham, as Real deal with the absence through injury of Luka Modric.
"Whether this proves [Sergio] Ramos in midfield has left Real Madrid looking anaemic I'm not so sure, but one of the things he was supposed to do was to provide a barrier in front of the defence and he doesn't do that for the breakaway from which Juventus scored the [second] goal."
Graham added that the lack of control could also make them ripe for the picking on the counter-attack.
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